Art in Revolution 3 - newleafdesign.me.uk

Lyonel Feininger, one of the initial teachers at the school. This imagesymbolised the idea of collective utopianism and the three spires thedisciplines of architecture, painting and sculpture. The Bauhaus engendered astrong community spirit with a mix of architects, craftsmen and painters. Themedieval influence in the Bauhaus went further with masters, journeymenand apprentices replacing the usual teacher/student relationship. From thebeginning the school emphasised the need to centre all the arts aroundarchitecture although curiously the initial promise of an architecturaldepartment failed to materialise in its first few years, probably due to the lackof funds during Germany’s post-war depression.The students were encouraged to get away from the idea of fine art for itsown sake:art itself cannot be taught, but craftsmanship can. Architects, painters,sculptors are all craftsmen in the original sense of the word. It is afundamental requirement of all artistic creativity that all studentsundergo a thorough training in the workshops of all the crafts.Lyonel Feininger’swoodcut illustration forthe cover of WalterGropius’ manifesto forthe StaatlischesBauhaus.Gropius believed that to understand the work of craftsmen all architects,artists and designers should start out as craftsmen, abolishing the socialdistinctions between the two.The coming years will demonstrate that craft will be salvation of all of usartists ... All the great artistic achievements of the past, the Indian, theGothic miracles, arose out of a total mastery of craft.Gropius respected the English ‘Arts and Crafts Movement’ and its belief inmedieval values, but unlike Morris and his cohorts he was not disillusionedand defeated by the products of industry. Alongside like-mindedcontemporaries he was optimistic enough to believe that they could embracepost-war technology.By breaking down the barriers and hierarchy between painting,architecture, craft and design to share common interests in form,composition, colour and aesthetics an equivalent of Gesamtkunstwerke (totalartwork) could be achieved, elevating the applied arts or crafts to what hadpreviously been considered 'Fine Art'. Gropius thought that this could beachieved by a combination of education and practice that would give thestudent an insight into the nature of creativity. Each workshop would have anartist or Master of Form in charge who would stimulate a creative streak,alongside an experienced craftsmen or Workshop Master who would teachthe students manual skills and techniques. For a number of reasons, mostparticularly the ego of the artists, this blend didn’t work out as planned. Someof the painters weren’t interested in visiting the workshops, and the generalegalitarianism including equal pay for all staff didn’t stop some of the paintersbehaving as if they were a class above the rest.The courses were to run for four years, starting with a probationary periodfollowed by a structured course. This now seemingly common place idea wasone that the educational reformers in Germany had recently begun tointroduce into their arts and craft colleges. The Bauhaus preliminary course(Vorkurs) was from the outset more advanced than the other colleges due toits thoroughness in teaching the underlying principles of artistic creativity andvisual experience. Inevitably there was a good deal of trial and error from theA DESIGN FOR A BETTER WORLD 183